Download Grammar: Note on Information Structure

ENGALX Campus Grammar
Spring 2010
Anna Linzie
Information structure
The way in which we organize information is a crucial aspect of communicative
competence. The order of elements in a sentence can differ depending on where
the speaker wants to place the focus of the sentence. If you structure the
information of a sentence in a way that a native speaker would not, your text
will not sound idiomatic however grammatically correct it may be.
Adverbials
1. Adverbials in initial position: subject-verb word order in English, in
Swedish inverted word order
2. Some one-word adverbials (almost, never, often): adverbial before the
finite verb in English if there is no auxiliary in the verb phrase
3. Complex adverbials: adverbial not normally placed between a subject and
a verb in dependent clauses in English
4. Split infinitives: adverbials often avoided between the infinitive marker to
and a verb, especially with never, not and only
Reporting clauses
In reporting clauses, English typically has subject-verb word order whereas
Swedish does not. If the subject is a personal pronoun, subject-verb word order
is the only alternative. If the head of the noun phrase is a noun (with or without
modification), both word order types are possible, as long as the verb phrase
only consists of one word (if the verb phrase is complex, only subject-verb word
order is possible). 1. “No way!” my sister said. 2. “No way!” said my sister. 3.
“No way!” my sister had said. If an object follows the verb, subject-verb word
order is used as well. “No way!” my sister said to her best friend.
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The indefinite article
The indefinite article is sometimes placed differently in English and Swedish:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Exclamations and expressions with what and such
Expressions with quite
Expressions with as, how, however, so, and too
The expression half a/an
Adjectives and pronouns
A few word order differences concern the positions of adjectives and pronouns:
1. Some adjectives following rather than preceding the words they describe
(the parents concerned)
2. The adjectives old and little combined with other adjectives
3. Quantifying pronouns like all, most and some in combination with a
relative pronoun (formal): all of whom (“av vilka alla”)
The theme of a clause
In a statement, the first part of a clause (typically the subject) usually refers to
something familiar – the theme of a sentence. The new information about the
theme (the most important part of the sentence) tends to come towards the end =
the information principle. Long grammatical elements tend to come at the end
of sentences, since they often contain a great deal of new information = the
principle of end-weight.
Giving something extra focus
Emphatic constructions can be used to give extra focus to something.
Cleft sentences. There are two types of so-called cleft sentences, one of which
is introduced by a preparatory it and includes a relative clause, and one of which
starts with the relative pronoun what. He said it was the previous chairman who
suggested it (instead of He said the previous chairman suggested it). What I
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tried to perform was a simple experiment (instead of I tried to perform a simple
experiment). Note: Swedish learners of English tend to overuse these structures.
Fronting. The most common way to start a declarative sentence is to put the
subject first (the typical theme structure). Moving another clause element to the
theme position (=fronting) gives it extra focus. Why you left me I will never
know. Remember: A fronted negating or restricting adverbial entails the finite
verb coming before the subject: No sooner had they heard the news than the
phone rang. Note: Fronting is more common in Swedish than in English – do
not overuse!
So, either, neither, nor. With the word so, we can give extra focus to various
parts of the clause, depending on the way in which the information is structured.
A) “Let’s find out,” they said and so they did. (focus on the verb find out) B) I
found out and so did they. (focus on the subject they) There are similar
constructions with either, neither and nor. A) He seldom fails, and she doesn’t
either. B) He didn’t succeed, and neither did she.
Active and passive clauses
A passive construction without a by-agent usually sounds more objective than
an active clause, and such structures are therefore common in types of writing
where an impression of objectivity is desired (e.g. scientific texts). A passive
clause can also be useful if it is not known who does or did something, if this
information is not considered significant, or if the writer does not wish the
reader to know.
The choice between an active and a passive clause can also be related to focus
and the principle of end-weight. A passive construction can sometimes be a way
of avoiding a very long and “heavy” theme: Pupils were asked by a group of
concerned teachers and staff members at the Hampton Middle School to stop
bullying each other.
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